


Angel Baby

by Befudle, libbyluvs



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Human Names, Merformers, Other, Transformers MTMTE spoilers, gratuitous fluff, lots of 50's 60's music
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-08
Updated: 2015-06-03
Packaged: 2018-03-29 14:44:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3900136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Befudle/pseuds/Befudle, https://archiveofourown.org/users/libbyluvs/pseuds/libbyluvs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>--SPOILERS FOR MTMTE #13 AND BEYOND--</p><p> </p><p>Tailgate recovers from his injuries and is finally able to work again- And even manages to snag his dream job as a Mer* handler at the Lost Light Mer* Rehabilitation Clinic!  However, his first charge-a surly Tiger Shark who rejects every prosthetic horn he's given- is proving a challenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Interview

**Author's Note:**

> Hey whats up, its my last day of highschool so that means literally so much stress off my plate, and i thought id christen the occasion with mermaids (smashes a plastic bottle of Dr. Pepper against a car) (car alarm goes off)

“Mr.Gaddis?”

Tyler squeaked, having gotten distracted by a vibrant, colorful chart depicting different fin structures that was attached to the wall.

“Yes! Sorry- Your office is very… Well, it’s really interesting. Lots of posters.” Tyler piped, eyes again wandering to another poster. The White Stripes. Not the kind of music Tyler would have assumed for the doctor. “Lots of posters…” And skateboards. Tyler counted three hanging from the wall so far. One more beaten up one laying in the corner upside-down. Also a punching bag that looked like it might have been used once. And that broken Newton's Cradle with half of the balls missing. Not to mention- is that a laser pointer stuck to the ceiling?

“What? No.” The doctor shook his head and chuckled. It was the kind of gravely, old-man laugh that made you relax. “This isn’t my office, kid. This is where we have the interviews, but this isn’t _my_ office.” Dr. Richards shifted in his chair. “If you make it into the _family_ , you’ll meat Rodney on your own.”

“Huh. Is he the, uh-”

“Anyway, moving on-“ Dr. Richards flipped through some papers. From the way half of them were upside-down, Tyler could tell he wasn’t actually looking at them. He’d probably already heard enough about Tyler from the news. “Your credentials are very impressive, Mr. Gaddis.”

“Ah- You can call me Tyler, If you want.”

The rest of the interview went fairly well. Tyler managed to stay focused for the most part- only getting distracted when the echo of shouting (and... Splashing?) made it down the hall and into the office. Curiously, the doctor’s only response was to massage between his eyebrows. Seems like that was a regular occurrence.

 

\--------------------------------<~O~>\-----

 

By the time the interview was winding to an end, Tyler was feeling pretty confident. And it was only as Tyler was getting up to leave that _The Question_ was asked. He never liked this question, but honestly, it was unrealistic to think he could get out of it.

“Last question, Mr. Gaddis-“

“You can call me Tyler.”

“It’s… about your accident.”

Dr. Richards sighed at the way the younger man stiffened.

“Look, Mr. Gaddis, I understand it’s probably something you’d be uncomfortable talking about, but as a doctor it’s… It’s really something I have to ask about.”

“I… I understand, Dr. Richards. I’ll answer any questions you have.”

“Right.”

The two men shared an awkward silence, Tyler feeling the beginnings of a panic coming on 

“Why don’t you… Explain it to me. I have it on paper but, to be honest, It’s a little hard to believe… I’d like to hear how you would word it yourself. 

Tyler sighed and tried to gather his thoughts. It never worked, however. He’d put it all together in his head and end up babbling himself to tears regardless.

Tyler recounted the accident-a drunk driver they believe-who’s truck easily threw Tyler’s bicycle off the bridge after the head-on collision. Tyler had been trapped among the rocks for almost 4 days before passing hikers were attracted by the stench of blood.

He continued on, apologizing for his lack of memory of the 7½ months he was unconscious. He left out the lack of Missing Persons reports for the 4 days he lay bleeding and starving on salty rocks watching the hungry mer just too short to reach his broken body; or the lack of visitors during his hospital stay, and instead recounted his miraculous recovery in just 2 years after waking from his coma and recovering from both of his broken legs.

He was still walking on crutches, but not for much longer.

Tyler was just getting to how he achieved his masters in mermatology in record time when he finally broke down into tears, accepting the copious tissues handed to him by Dr. Richards.

“Ah… I’m sorry, I should have put the brakes on there- here.” Richards said, deciding to just surrender the box to the other.

Tyler was in the middle of apologizing, when the door slamming against the office wall startled him into toppling his pyramid of used napkins. 

“Hey-a there, Ratchet-“ Tyler heard a growl from behind him as he turned to face the door, a tall, brightly dressed man in his late 20’s blocking the hallway. The man opened his mouth to continue, but dropped his gaze once he noticed Tyler.

“Oh shit, hey- You’re the new guy aren’t you?”

“He’s not the new guy yet, Rodney-“

“Yeah- um…”

“ _Captian_ Rodney.”

“We’re in the middle of the interview-"…Were they still in the middle?

“Well I can fix that!” this 'Captain Rodney' took a step towards Tyler and leaned down a bit to be at eye-level with him. “Congrats, short-stuff, you’re hired. Get some more tissues to wipe your tears of joy. Get them somewhere else though, me and the Ratchet-“ another growl from the doctor “- got some business!”

“I- uh…”

Before he knew what was what, Tyler was out the door, with an armload of used tissues, another armload of initial paperwork, and a “Lost Light Mer* Rehabilitation Center” T-shirt thrown over his shoulder.

Shaking his head and getting his wits about him, the first thing he noticed was the furious yelling of “Fucking pompous fish-“ from the other side of the door. 

Was that Director Rodney Vasquez?

 

The director had tousled pompadour-style blonde hair, and wore an open suit jacket over-what first glance appeared to be- a Black Sabbath shirt that had a small hole towards the bottom right corner, and bright red skinny jeans. Tyler could even se the ends of neon yellow tatoos over the mans brown skin poking from under the suit.

The only thing about that man that looked mildly professional was the fact that he had a tie; but even then, his tie had the repeating image of a flaming Harley Davidson and hung just below his collarbone.

Back out in the hall, shaking slightly and face wet with tears he looked left and right down the halls.

"Hey, You alright there buddy?"

 

\--------------------------------<~O~>\-----


	2. Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler gets a tour, and meets new friend(s?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UGH sorry this took forever, ive been working ike crAZY latey. im getting overtime man
> 
> not to mention ive been writing all this on my iphone now (using SIRI of all things), since my computer is crapping out on me.
> 
> side note, this is un beta'd, and im actually in the process of looking for a beta so hit me up man

 "Just a little further..."  
  
"Xavier-"  
  
"...Pause for effect...."  
  
"Xavier- my glasses-"  
  
Suddenly, Tyler was blinded as the Red-Head threw open his hands with a (somewhat excessive) 'ta-da!'.  
  
Having had Xaviers hands smothering his eyes for the past four hallways, it took a minute for his eyes to re-adjust.  
  
"The... _Cafeteria_? Theres a cafeteria?"  
  
Xavier gave a huff and bounced around to stand in front of Tyler. He threw his arms open wide enthusiastically and gestured around the room- a gesture entirely wasted as Tyler searched for his glasses on the floor, them having gone wide in Xavier's enthusiasm.  
  
"Not just any cafeteria; _my_ cafeteria! The people around the complex call it ' _Xavier's_ '." Judging by the depreciative scoff from the person sitting at the table beside him, Tyler assumed that, in fact, no one called it ' _Xavier's_ '.  
  
"I mean, don't take this the wrong way, but why did you want to save this for last again? I mean, it's nice, but why?"  
  
"Oh, come on, Tyler, _baby_ , please tell me you didn't forget walking through the Pressurization Room _already_?"  
  
The whole facility was dotted with pressurization rooms. They were a necessary part of the structure for having submerged areas of the facility and were frankly an enormous hassle. If the pressure were to change in submerged areas, it would cause flooding in any area that had "pools".  
  
Wait... pressurization?  Does that mean…?  
  
"Oh my God, do you mean… you mean the cafeteria is _submerged_?!"  
  
Xavier's face grew into a huge smirk (literally, huge. That man has an enormous mouth...) and he dove behind the counter.  
  
Suddenly, an audible siren blared, and the steel paneling lining the walls of the cafeteria slowly rose to reveal glass Indentions extended into the ocean in about 5 feet each.  
  
At the base of each glass indention was a  pentagonal pool that, apparently, allowed the Mer to mingle with the humans. Already, some Mer were poking their heads out.  
  
Xavier had already made his way back to Tyler, looking smug as hell as Tyler practically vibrated where he stood.  
  
"So- you mean- you get to have lunch with the Mer?!  Xavier, that's incredible!"  
  
"Yeah, something about easing the atmosphere etc. etc.- but, yeah,  that's why."  
  
Tyler, still busy looking around and soaking in the general awesomeness, didn't even turn his head to reply.  
  
"'That's why' what?"  
  
"That's why I saved it for last."  
  
Tyler giggled and turned to reply- but was interrupted by the thundering voice echoed off the walls. All manner of people in the room visibly tensed.  
  
" ** _XAVIER_**!"  
  
Tyler's eyes flew wide and glance to his friend- whose face was 10 different shades of terrified.  
  
"...oh shit."

  
  
\--------------------------------<~O~>\-----

  
  
Tyler had no idea what to make of Magnus. For one, the mer was huge. Easily several times larger than Xavier and Tyler combined; and his in enormous carapace shoulders were nearly up to Tyler's knees.  
  
The mer had horns protruding on either side of his head, blocky blue and red patterns etched into his natural armor, and was currently laying 15 different layers of protocol all over Xavier's ass.  
  
"You were not authorized to open the shutters! This compounds handbook clearly states the permissions be granted from both the compound's Director and also the compounds mer emissary-and I, certainly, did not grant authorization!"  
  
Xavier look thoroughly subdued and, despite Tyler's natural fear of 'anything larger than himself'(not to mention his intense awe at the Mer's fluent engish), he felt the need to defend his friend.  
  
"Uhm-"  
  
"And **_you_** -"  
  
Shit.  
  
"Each new faculty member must have a initial meeting with both the director and mer emissary prior to integration into the staff!" Magnus return his glare to Xavier, "Another black mark for you, Mr. Verner."  
  
“OH- will you give it a rest, Maggie?”  
  
Both Xavier and Tyler nearly jumped out of their skin, but Magnus  merely  gave a very audible, and very disapproving grunt.

 

  
\--------------------------------<~O~>\-----

 


	3. Reprimand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Director Rodney and Ambassador Magnus have a "chat".
> 
> Tyler and Xavier are also part of this chat too because Rodney and Magnus really don't have an inside voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BAM look at me pumping these suckers out holy shit. i have today off so i think i might be able to have one loaded up for later this week and be able to work on pooping out another.
> 
> tl;dr: fuck yeah.

“Mr. Vasquez-“ a grunt from the doorway “you agree to these terms when you became director of this facility! You know better than to authorize this without  My consent!”  
  
Director-er- Captain Rodney strode to the center of the room, and stopped at a respectable distance from the Mer* ambassador.  
  
“What’s the big deal, Maggie? He's not been introduced him o any of the Mer* Staff/patients!” Rodney shrugged.  
  
The director too advantage of the ambassador’s silence (which was likely due to surprise over the fact that Director Rodney had actually pronounced ‘/ ‘ as ‘slash’), and continued. “Besides, just look at the little guy!” Faster than Tyler could avoid, Director Rodney was behind him and gently swaying him by the shoulders- nearly causing Tyler to drop one of his crutches out of surprise. Tyler suddenly loathed being the shortest in the room. Even Xavier was snickering beside him.  
  
“You hired him as a handler, did you not? That implies, if nothing else, that he will come into contact with my kind. If I’ve not evaluated, how can it be determined whether or not it would be  safe for him to interact with the patients and/or residents of this facility!”  
  
The two barked back and forth a few more times and Tyler was getting dizzy from whipping his head between the two. Xavier looked bored.  
  
With an excessively loud sigh, the director cupped a hand around Tyler’s ear, crouched slightly and whispered: “Sheesh. What a prick eh?”  
The director- gah-  Captain! The captain sprung back up and gently nudged Tyler out of the way. “Well- fine- how would you evaluate him than?”  
  
The mer ambassador Hummed in thought, swaying slightly in the seawater. Here comes the dizzy again…  
  
“Hm… Primarily, we would have to go over the unabridged book of regulations… After he’s proven that e has a firm grasp on regulation and protocol between our  inter-species relation and Mer culture he can begi-“  
  
“Da-da-da-da okay but how about this- an initiary assignment!”  
  
Ambassador Magnus grunted. “There is no such protocol for an ‘Initiary’ is not even a word.”  
  
“Who cares if it’s a word- it’s a good idea! Tyler here-“ hello swaying, would you happen to know where the nearest bathroom is? “Is a handler! He handles! How about, you get to choose who he handles and, you know, how he does determines if he stays, eh?”  
  
“Director, that a horrible idea.”  
  
“Whaaaat? No, it’s a great idea! You can keep an eye on him and- really whats a greater way to learn than hands on?”  
  
The ambassador began rubbing his chin and Tyler was having difficulty distinguishing the table from that chair. Would it really matter which he sat on at this point?  
  
Xavier chose this moment to finally speak up. “Well… I have to agree with the Ambassador here.”  
  
All pairs of eyes here on Xavier now. The most betrayed (and unfocused) of which were Tylers.  
  
“Well-I just mean- there’d be a lot of paperwork involved…”  
  
Rodney gave the shorter man a sly grin. “Hmmm, he has a point…” The director hummed, releasing Tyler’s shoulders to shrug dramatically. “We might have to get new documents written from D.C., might even have to send specialized reports along with our usual ones!”  
  
Tyler threw layers upon layer of betrayed looks on both of the other men…

  
  
Until he caught a glimpse of the ambassador’s face.

 

\--------------------------------<~O~>\-----

 

"Wow..."

"Yep."

"I-I mean... is he really that easy to manipulate...? Don't you feel bad?"

"Well, I mean, the guy loves it.  Like, would you fee bad giving candy to a baby? Babies love candy!"

"I'd feel bad if i was only giving to them to get them to _rob a bank_... or something..."

Director Rodney and Xavier both heaved sighs and their shortest companion. "Tyler- really? You got the job! It's official, man, lighten up.  It's not hurting anyone and, honestly, would you rather be sitting behind some desk reading the book?" Xavier lightly knocked his arm.

"...Well..."

"Dude, Thing's like 9000 pages. "

"Woah, what? Really?" 

"Yeah, man- here-" Tyler accepted the sliver of gum handed to him by Xavier before stepping into the pressurization room along with him and the Director. Xavier keyed in the command and soon the humm of optimizing air pressures began.

"Before Magnus, the ambassador was a lot more relaxed. But that was back when  _Cyclonus_ was the poster child for the clinic."

The director heaved a sigh and Xavier suddenly looked very awkward. "Before _Overlord_."

"Wha- Overlord? Okay, I'm gonna ask about that but- _Cyclonus_? I remember him from before my accident!  He was that sweet-" Both other men scoffed. Oookay. "The purple shark! He was on all the billboards. With that horn and stuff- uh... Couldn't tell water currents or something?"

Xavier shook his head, and was the first to step out of the pressurization room. Rodney gently rested his elbow on Tyler's shoulder and leaned into him.

"Yeah, Cyclonus was big for about a year- You know, for donations and tours and basically to get money to keep this place up and running- 'The injured mer* who needed  _your_ " the director pointed at him dramatically "help to get Cyclonus back home!'- yadda-yadda. But then he got into all that shit with Galvatron etc. etc." The Director sighed and led Tyler back into the cafeteria, giving his shoulder a friendy squeeze. "Long story short; Cyclonus is not longer billboards. Longer story short; Cyclonus is an asshole."

 

"...Oh."

 

\--------------------------------<~O~>\-----


End file.
